Phillips, BP announce new find on North Slope

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- Phillips Alaska Inc. and BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. have discovered a significant oil field on the North Slope, the companies said Tuesday.

The Meltwater discovery, the first for Phillips Alaska since it bought Arco Alaska last month, is estimated to contain about 50 million barrels of proven and potential reserves.

The exploration well is about 10 miles south of the Tarn oil field in the Greater Kuparuk Area. It tested out at around 4,000 barrels of oil per day. A second exploration well confirmed the northern portion of the reservoir.

''Our goal is to bring this new field on production as quickly as possible. We will soon be working with Phillips on a field development plan,'' said F.X. O'Keefe, exploration business unit leader for BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.

Dawn Patience, spokeswoman for Phillips Alaska, said the field could begin producing in as little as 18 months. Oil from the test well was of higher quality than that coming from Prudhoe Bay, she said.

The Meltwater Discovery was made on land purchased in June of 1998 from the first areawide lease sale held by the state of Alaska.